The Mfuwe sector, in the south near the airport, has all-weather roads and the greatest concentration of camps, and is the most reliable ground for leopard in a park that already has one of the highest leopard densities in Africa. Sightings here are frequent enough to be an expectation rather than a hope over a three- or four-night stay.

The Nsefu sector, on the eastern bank, is quieter and more remote in feel, with hot springs, open plains and a long-established colony of yellow-billed storks. It is the classic ground for a multi-day walking trip between bush camps.

The riverbanks in the late dry season hold the park's most photographed spectacle: from mid-August, thousands of southern carmine bee-eaters arrive to nest in tunnels dug into the vertical sand banks, turning long stretches of shoreline crimson.

The lagoons concentrate hippo at densities among the highest anywhere, along with crocodile, elephant crossing between feeding grounds, and the endemic Thornicroft's giraffe — a subspecies found only in this valley.

South Luangwa is also one of the few major parks that permits night drives, and they are the reason to book a camp inside the park: leopard, genet, civet and porcupine all become findable after dark in a way they never are by day.

Practicalities

The dry season from June to October is the productive window, building to a peak in September and October when the heat is severe but the game is concentrated on the river. The green season from November to April brings dramatic skies, newborn animals and superb birding, but many bush camps close, roads become impassable, and thicker vegetation makes sightings harder. Mfuwe has direct flights from Lusaka, which makes this one of the easier remote parks to reach.